


but it’s clear when it hits me

by yellingatbabylon



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Songwriting, heavily inspired by the pretty venom genius page, i dont know that i would call this fluffy but it isn't really sad or angsty either, i think this technically qualifies as song fic, it's just like night time song writing so everyone is a lil emo, none of these are helpful but what the hell ya know, that's more it really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28004442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellingatbabylon/pseuds/yellingatbabylon
Summary: There’s words in the action that neither of them really know how to say out loud yet. Like the ones that pass through Alex’s mind while he stands at the bar waiting for his receipt, when he sees Jack laughing and dancing and glowing like a sun across the crowded room. Words he’ll probably never know exactly how to capture in a song but he knows he never wants to stop trying.
Relationships: Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	but it’s clear when it hits me

**Author's Note:**

> hello ! i read the genius page for pretty venom like a crazy number of times and in it, Alex talks about how Pretty Venom was written in the middle of the night after a night out just like chilling out and they didn't even think it would be anything and then WOW they got this Gorgeous interlude for the album. wild, i know. all of this was like vaguely inspired by that lil tale though so i figured i would share that horrible summary for context. 
> 
> happy hanukkah to those who celebrate ! i hope you holiday is bright and warm and full of love. 
> 
> title is a line from Pretty Venom
> 
> as always, come say hi on [tumblr](https://tirednotflirting.tumblr.com/) if you wanna x

It’s close to 3 AM when the four of them spill out of an Uber. Alex has somehow ended up the most sober of the group for the night and therefore has the keys to the house tucked into the pocket of his jeans. He shouts a thank you to their driver while chasing after the other three who have somehow made it to the front door already.

“Alex, I _will_ throw up in this plant pot if you don’t open this door in the next six seconds,” Rian threatens as he teeters back and forth on his heels. 

“We are renting this place,” Alex says while fishing the keychain from his pocket. “Don’t kill their plants with your low tolerance.” He shoves the key into the lock and swings the door open. Rian runs in the direction of the stairs toward the bedrooms while Zack slowly meanders across the room in the same direction. 

He watches Zack make it to the top of the staircase before realizing he’s missing one of his boys. He’s thinking maybe Jack went in search of snacks and is about to cross into the kitchen when he hears Rian calling for him up the stairs and jogs back in his direction. He’s sure Jack can make do finding the Pizza Rolls in the freezer on his own. 

(Though for a moment he does worry about him using the oven in his drunken state but he waves it away when he realizes there’s no way Jack doesn’t opt for the microwave directions.)

Soon enough, Rian is cleaned up and asleep in bed, a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin waiting on the bedside table for him for the morning. As he shuts the door gently behind him, Alex starts in the direction of his own room when he hears a quiet melody being plucked out somewhere down on the first floor. And despite his exhaustion and the swimming of his thoughts around his mind from the alcohol, Alex finds himself heading in the direction of the stairs.

Jack is on the couch facing away from him when Alex wanders back into the living room. The lights are dimmed to a dull yellow, something Alex remembers setting before they left so they could find their way around after getting back from the night out. Jack is playing through the melody Alex had heard from upstairs another time as he makes his way around the couch to take a seat beside him.

“What’s that?” Alex asks in a whisper as he turns to face Jack, his hand resting on the back of the couch reaching to tuck the tag from Jack’s sweater back before moving absent-mindedly to play with his hair. 

“Kinda heard a bit of it in my head on the drive back,” Jack mumbles as he focuses on playing through the pattern again. “Wanted to try to play it out before I go to sleep otherwise I’ll lose it. And this one feels like one I shouldn’t lose maybe.”

Alex smiles fondly while reaching into his pocket with his free hand, his thumb swiping to find his voice note app. He hits the record button and leans forward to let the phone sit on the coffee table. Jack looks up from the strings at the action and then turns to Alex, a light blush on his cheeks just barely visible in the dim lights. 

He shakes his head then and drops his hand from the neck of the guitar to fall into Alex’s lap. “It’s probably nothing. I haven’t been able to come up with anything for days, I’m sure it’s not anything any good.”

“No, come on,” Alex frowns. He lets his hand fall to rest over Jack’s to get his attention. His eyes turn up to meet Alex’s, obvious hesitation mixed into the dark brown. “Play it again. I think it might fit alright with something I was thinking about tonight too.”

Jack makes a face like he’s trying to decide if he should go along with the plan but then he shifts their hands so he can squeeze their palms together before lifting his hand back up to the instrument. Alex lets a small smile pull at his lips while he reaches into his pocket for the receipt he scribbled out some passing thoughts on earlier in the night.

And Alex knows he shouldn’t be surprised, that he should be used to the way their minds work so in sync like this, but he can’t help the joy that spreads further across his face when the words he thought up a couple hours earlier after a few vodka sodas fits so perfectly against the melody Jack plucks out another time. He mumbles through the half finished thoughts he reads off of the receipt paper while his eyes strain against the low light to decipher his messy words. It’s an action Alex is used to at this point since it had become a habit over the years to pull his passing thoughts onto any scrap of paper he could find when the right words struck. He’s learned the hard way that they don’t always stick when he catches them in an inebriated state.

He stops his quiet singing when he reaches the end of what feels like it could be a verse, and he’s waiting for Jack to loop around to the beginning of the pattern again when Alex watches his hand pull away from the strings. He’s ready to question why Jack’s stopped playing but the words get stuck in his throat when he feels a gentle hand cup his cheek. He looks up, the confusion on his face likely obvious but Jack speaks before he gets the chance. “How do you do that?”

Alex feels himself lean into Jack’s touch as he raises his brows. “What do you mean?”

“You always have the words for what I can only say with this,” he says while lifting the guitar slightly from the neck to gesture to what he means. “Like sometimes I wanna say something but I can’t figure out the words and you always have something that says it so perfectly.”

Alex sighs and lifts a hand to rest over Jack’s on his cheek. “We make a pretty good team, huh?”

Jack’s eyes soften as a small smile pulls at his lips. “It’s crazy, yeah. We should make a band or something.”

“Now there’s an idea.”

Jack laughs and shakes his head at Alex a little before his hand reaches around to the back of his neck and he pulls him closer to brush their lips together. There’s words in the action that neither of them really know how to say out loud yet. Like the ones that pass through Alex’s mind while he stands at the bar waiting for his receipt, when he sees Jack laughing and dancing and glowing like a sun across the crowded room. Words he’ll probably never know exactly how to capture in a song but he knows he never wants to stop trying. 

Alex pulls back, his forehead resting against Jack’s and his eyes closed while he focuses on the gentle dancing of fingertips drawing patterns against the back of his neck. He knows they need to find the words for it, to talk about it, whatever _it_ may be. But for now, they have a song to finish.

He pulls back with a deep breath and leans forward to pick up one of the journals on the table and finds an empty page. Alex clicks a pen he finds on the floor beside his foot and looks up to Jack’s eyes, ignoring the way they glitter a little bit under the light. That’s a song for another day.

“Okay, play that again.”

*

“Ready to call it a night?” Alex asks through a yawn as he lets his head fall to rest against Jack’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Jack agrees while gently setting the guitar back on the coffee table, careful not to move too much and let Alex’s sleepy head fall from it’s resting place. “We can play around with it again in the morning. See if there’s anything there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Alex moves to stand but Jack drops a hand to his knee and their eyes meet, Alex’s holding a question. He parts his lips to ask it but Jack beats him to it again. “Can I stay with you tonight? This tune’s kinda put me in a weird mood now and I just,” he pauses and his eyes drift from Alex’s. “Just want to stay with you.”

He picks up Jack’s hand and lets their fingers tangle together before lifting them up to press his lips to Jack’s knuckles. “Always.”

They head in the direction of the stairs, leaving the guitar and journal resting out since the living room was already in a state of musical chaos. Jack’s exhaustion is obvious from his shuffled motions as they move up the steps and Alex laughs softly, these hours not unfamiliar to his racing thoughts, though he knows that obviously can’t be the norm for everyone. He lets a hand move to press against the bottom of Jack’s back and guides them in the direction of his room once they hit the top step.

They part ways once inside the bedroom, Jack toward the bed and Alex heads to the bathroom to dig around in his suitcase for a couple of pairs of sweats. He changes out of his jeans before heading back to the bedroom and tossing the extra pair at Jack. He thanks him and mumbles something that sounds like _toothbrush_ before sliding off the bed and heading into the bathroom himself.

Alex slides under the sheets before reaching for his phone on the bedside table and sends a quick text with one of the voice notes with the most complete version of what they worked on attached to the group message. He has a good feeling about this one, he tells them with a few emojis trailing the end of his words.

He’s leaning back over to plug his phone in when a pair of arms wrap around his waist and Jack drops his head into Alex’s lap. He can’t help but giggle at the action as his hand moves to card through Jack’s mussed up hair. Jack’s face shifts then and it’s obvious he’s started thinking about something. It’s the face he pulls when he wants to say something but is worried about what the response will end up being. It’s a face he doesn’t make all that often around Alex. 

Alex uses his free hand to find one of Jack’s and he adjusts so his fingers rest in the spaces between his. “Hey, what’s with the face?”

“We won’t be able to use that song on the album, will we?”

Jack’s expression looks defeated, and it pulls at Alex’s heart a bit. “Why do you say that? I think it’s gonna be a good song. Just sent it to the guys and everything. I’m sure we can work on it some more again tomorrow, fine-tune and stuff.”

“No like,” Jack pauses and his eyes drift around, like he’s looking around for the right words to say. “Don’t you think it’s the wrong vibe?”

“No, I think it’s just a different kind of feeling maybe. Like a piece of the puzzle we were missing or something.”

“You think so?” Jack asks hesitantly. His eyes look up to meet Alex’s as he gnaws at his bottom lip. 

“I do, yes,” Alex says with a sigh before winking down at him. “And I’ll prove it to you tomorrow when everyone else loves it just as much as I do. Now, come on, it’s time to rest, sleepy boy.”

Jack seems satisfied with that answer as he only thinks on it for a second before nodding and sitting up to allow Alex to get more comfortable. He waits a moment before resting his head against Alex’s chest, Jack’s face pressing just above his heart in a practiced manner. It’s then that Alex feels the lateness of the hour and the remnants of the drinks from their night out settle over him as he fights his eyes to stay open. He moves to trace his finger across Jack’s back, his boy cuddling impossibly closer to his chest as he writes out the words to a song he has yet to get the guts to say out loud across his skin.


End file.
